Murder conviction vacated against Brockton arsonist

The Supreme Judicial Court vacated several charges against a Brockton woman convicted of murder in connection with a 2006 arson.

Editor's note: The court issued a revised opinion on Dec. 5, 2014, but lets its ruling stand. Read it here.

BROCKTON – The state Supreme Judicial Court vacated a first-degree murder conviction and 13 attempt-to-murder convictions against a Brockton woman on Tuesday after the justices ruled that a Brockton Superior Court judge allowed evidence that was inadmissible.

The Supreme Judicial Court ruled that Brockton Police detectives coerced Chiteara Thomas to waive her Miranda rights after she requested to have a lawyer present during her questioning at police headquarters. That interrogation, which was recorded, was allowed by the Superior Court judge to be used as evidence in Thomas’ trial but was ruled inadmissible by the SJC due to the Miranda violation.

Thomas, of Brockton, was convicted in 2010 of first-degree murder, 13 counts of attempt to murder and arson of a dwelling in connection with a 2006 fire at 779 Montello St., which left one woman dead and several others injured.

The Supreme Judicial Court upheld the arson of a dwelling conviction in its decision Tuesday.

Thomas had previously stayed at the residence with her boyfriend in a first-floor apartment rented and resided in by Michelle Johnson, according to testimony used in the SJC decision. However, Johnson ultimately told Thomas to move out of the apartment.

Thomas was angry with Johnson for kicking her out of the apartment and suspected that she was having a sexual relationship with her boyfriend.

After moving out of the apartment, Thomas returned on several occasions and threatened to kill Johnson and burn down the building. She also smashed several windows on the first floor by throwing rocks and bricks at the house.

On July 3, 2006, Thomas was warned not to return to the house after getting into a fight with her boyfriend on the front porch, but returned to the residence later that night and was charged with trespassing.

She was required to appear in court on July 5 for her arraignment, but defaulted. A warrant was issued for her arrest.

On July 6, 2006, Thomas returned to the home on Montello Street and reached through one of the windows she had previously smashed, lighting the curtains covering the window on fire with a lighter.

The fire would spread quickly throughout the building, trapping several residents on the second and third floors and causing the death of Olinda Calderon, the mother of a month-old baby, according to the testimony included in the decision.

Later on that day, police, who were searching for Thomas in connection with the fire, would find her at Brockton District Court while she was trying to clear up her warrant and obtain an attorney. Thomas was not arrested at the courthouse but agreed to be taken to the Brockton police station for questioning regarding the fire.

However, once Thomas was read her Miranda warnings in the interrogation room, she requested to have a lawyer present for the questioning, according to the decision.

At that time Brockton police Detective Dominic Persampieri, who was conducting the questioning, left the room, then returned a moment later and said, “(U)nderstand one thing. Once you leave here,...(w)e’re gonna do our investigation, and it’s gonna get a lot hotter... (W)hat we’re trying to tell you, we’re gonna give you the opportunity to tell us your side of the story. Okay?”

However, when Thomas tried to respond to Persampieri’s question, the detective said, “Sorry. You already lawyered up.”

After continuing to talk with detectives, Thomas would subsequently waive her Miranda rights.

In the ensuing conversation, the defendant denied setting the fire, but made many incriminating admissions regarding her whereabouts in the hours before and immediately after the fire and her relationship with Johnson. She did not, however, admit to starting the fire, according to the decision.

The interrogation, which was recorded, would be allowed as evidence in Thomas’ trial but, on appeal, the Supreme Judicial Court would find the recording was inadmissible as evidence because the detectives had violated Thomas’ Miranda rights through Persampieri’s improper statements to her concerning her decision to request an attorney.

A subsequent interview conducted by detectives on July 7 was also ruled inadmissible by the Supreme Judicial Court, which found that it was tainted by the previous violation of Thomas’ Miranda rights. A second interview conducted by detectives July 7, during which Thomas admitted to starting the fire, was found to be admissible by the Supreme Judicial Court.

In its ruling, the SJC said the state could either settle for a lesser charge of second-degree murder against Thomas or retry the case seeking to convict her of first-degree murder.

Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz said Tuesday he would retry Thomas on charges of first-degree murder and 13 counts of attempted murder.

“This was a horrific fire that left victims, including small children, jumping from a burning building to save their lives,” Cruz said. “There was overwhelming evidence that this defendant acted with deliberate premeditation to kill, including setting fire to a house filled with women and children at 5 o’clock in the morning.”